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The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between measures of central sensitization and CPM and how they impact motor adaptations in individuals without chronic pain conditions. To conduct this research, we decided to incorporate the “broken escalator phenomenon,” which is the unusual feeling that occurs when an individual steps onto an escalator or moving walkway that is broken and therefore not moving. The body responds with an anticipatory response that includes increased trunk sway and increased forward speed. The body adapts to the stationary walkway by reducing trunk sway and speed. Following that period of adaptation, if the individual steps onto a walkway that moves, an aftereffect occurs, in which the anterior trunk sway and forward speed is inadequate, thus eliciting the neuromuscular adaption back to the baseline of the moving condition to occur. Our goal is to see if there is a connection between sensory sensitivity and movement and muscle activation responses to the conditions of the walkway in young healthy individuals. We hypothesize that people who have high sensitivity to sensory input will have greater compensatory postural alignments and lower rates of adaptation to the postural perturbation supplied by the conditions of the walkway. The results of the study will provide key insight into pain mechanisms to researchers studying pain and clinicians who treat patients with pain. This paper summarizes the research plan developed for this study. Every aspect of this research plan included considerations from prior research literature and pilot testing. Following the description of the steps taken into developing the methods, the research plan in its entirety, is presented.

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